The Andrew Davidson Interview: Former conductor takes the driving seat

Go Aheads Chris Moyes is going it alone after 21 years with former boss Martin Ballinger. And last week the companys shares hit an all-time high

GO AHEAD, the Newcastle-based bus business that has expanded into railways, likes to do things differently.

“We expect graduate trainees to take their driving test and spend time driving buses,” says boss Chris Moyes. “And I have my own buses. I drive them occasionally to keep my licence.”

His own buses? Moyes, one of the founders of Go Ahead plc, doesn’t even blush. He has, apparently, a private collection of no fewer than four vintage buses that he tinkers around with at weekends — one from 1936, an open topper from 1946, a coach from 1961, very useful for family holidays . . .

Go Ahead, whose shares hit an all-time high of £13.84 last week before closing at £13.75 on Friday, valuing the company at £698m, has clearly treated its founders well. Moyes replaced his friend Martin Ballinger as chief executive this month, after 21 years of working together — a partnership that has